tuna cakes

My one-year-old daughter loves food. All of it. So it’s a lot of fun to keep introducing her to new things and see how she reacts.

The  challenge is that I want these new and interesting foods to be healthy and if I’m going to put out that much effort making them, I’d like to enjoy it too.

Enter the tuna quinoa cakes. Easy, tasty, and you can eat them with your hands.

Ingredients
2 cans water packed tuna, no added salt, water drained
1 cup cooked quinoa
2 eggs
2 tablespoons lemon juice (or the juice of 1/2 a large lemon)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
Jalapeño pepper to taste
1/8 cup chopped kimchi
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 clove garlic
Salt & pepper to taste
Oil for cooking

3 tablespoons sour cream or lemon dill aioli (recipe below)

 

In large bowl, combine quinoa, lemon juice, dill and cumin. Fluff with fork.

Saute the onions, peppers, jalapeño and garlic. I used coconut oil to cook mine out.

Let both cool.

Whisk eggs, then add tuna, quinoa, kimchi and the cooked veg; toss with fork to combine.

With wet hands, form whichever size patties you like – I made both toddler and grown up sizes – pressing firmly. If they feel a little loose, cover and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes. Mine felt pretty solid so I just tossed them into the oven. You can make them the day before too, just cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

Place the patties on a greased baking sheet or a silpat sheet, brush the tops with olive or coconut oil, and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees F.

Serve with sour cream if you’re a fan like my daughter is.

I think sour cream is nasty so made a lemon dill aioli with 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tbsp Lemon juice, 1/2 tsp chopped pickle, 1/2 cup Mayonnaise and a splash of garlic. It was delish!